A month full of randomness

I have said before that I am glad that phones have cameras.  This way I know what I did!

Ethan spent a week camping in WVa with Shelly's folks.  Shelly and I planned to get away for a couple days of kayaking with Brock staying at my folks.  The weather conspired against that plan, but not wanting to disappoint Brock or Grandpa, we headed out for some inside type of fun.  First stop was the Harvest Moon Cafe in Canal Winchester.  This place is worth the stop with good food/drinks and nice atmosphere with brick and black pipe interior.  From there we hit up Iron Pony, REI, Jeni's Ice Cream, Trader Joe's before heading back to Athens for supper (and some World Cup soccer) at Jackie O's.  Fun day to get away.  As an aside, I picked up a pair of TCX Track boots for dual sport riding.  Lot's cheaper than a broken foot.

Speaking of, with a dual sport camping ride planned in a few weeks, I picked up some Michelin T63 tires for the KTM to replace the worn out Sahara's that are on it.  Should make a great dirt road/trail tire.

The following week we decided to pack up a tent and take Brock camping.  The weather forecast for Davis, WVa looked great with highs in the mid 70's and lows in the 50's with fair skies.  We got in to Thomas, WVa and to the Tip Top coffee shop in time for lunch and to watch the USMNT versus Germany cup game. From there we set up camp, checked out Blackwater Falls, the Blackwater River valley views, the Dry Fork River, some pizza from Siriani's, playground time in Canaan Valley and back to camp in time for a fire and marshmallows.  Brock was great and slept like a rock.  We even had a woodcock hanging around in the camp.  Up the next morning around 5am to make coffee while Brock slept in.  We stopped at the Laurel Valley wind turbine installation after breakfast and before having a Hellbender Burrito for lunch.  After that, we headed back home, watching the temperature rise 10 degrees plus humidity as we dropped out of the mountains.

With that, June ended with the passing of a great man, Chad Vanco, a coworker who was fighting cancer.  At only 42 years old with a wife and two kids, it was a tough loss.  I watched the USMNT game versus Belgium at Jackie O's with a few other folks!  We celebrated 21 years since our first date.  Got to take a short trail ride with Ethan.  From there, I have just torn stuff up.  Ethan broke the chain on his TTR.  My MASI road frame is being replaced (under warranty) as the bottom race for the headset bearing came loose from the frame.  The generator quit generating on the old Sportster.  And yesterday my final drive belt broke on my Buell on my way home from work.  Thankfully it wasn't in the construction area I just came out of when it happened and dad was able to pick me up.  Also found a bad rear wheel bearing when I took it apart (most likely related).  And lastly, a good friend lost his job.  I need a bike ride...

Vacation!

Finally got some vacation.  Has been a long time since I have been able to get any amount of time off.  Didn't go anywhere, too scared to travel with Brock, Ethan was in WV camping with Shelly's folks, etc.  Just stayed close to home, biked, ate, watched soccer, and didn't work.  Ended up riding more miles in a week than I did the entire month of May.

Heading to Lake Hope for kayaking (Shelly) and MTB (me).

On the trail.

The lake, the weather, and the patrons were all looking good.

Post ride lunch at Jackie O's to watch some UEFA Eruo '12.

Road ride, brand new asphalt on Ohio 325.

Dinner at Purple Chop Stix

Mmmm, Tom Yum Sourp

Everyone's favorite dairy farm. 

Father's day supper: grilled pizza with fresh spinach, roma tomatoes, olives, and  fresh mozzarella.  

My Present

Shelly and Ethan surprised me with a framed photo for Father's Day.  Took some work for them too, as my bike hangs upside down from the ceiling in the basement.  Ladder and poster board was involved.

Back to Back to Back

The weekend started a little early when I left work during the afternoon on Friday to be home with the kids as Shelly headed for Columbus.  Let Brock play in the basement while I installed the WB Magic 80 fork on the Monocog Flight.  Decided to go with the suspension fork for the Lake Hope race.  After dinner, Ethan and I threw the bikes and B.o.B. trailer in the truck and headed to the paved road to take Brock on his first bike ride. I think he enjoyed it, in fact, he started to fall asleep.  It was swamp like humid out.  Back to the house and Brock and Ethan took a dip in the pool to cool off.

Saturday started with the tractor.  The storms a few days earlier did a real number to the driveway.  The Kubota made quick work of it though and we soon had driveway without ditches in it.  Shelly and the two youngest boys headed to town around lunch, so I headed out on the bike.  Just a mile in, I came up on a helicopter trimming a power line right of way.  Fun to watch, not sure I would want to fly that chopper though.  Took the Masi out to Chicken Hill to get in some good climbing.  All in, just over 40 miles and about 3000 feet of climbing.

Sunday was the typical, out to church for sound checks at 8, Sunday school at 9:15, service at 10:30, to my folks for lunch at 1.  The weather had changed, for the better.  High temps in the upper 70's and low humidity.  Late in the afternoon I headed out to Lake Hope State Park with the Monocog for some single speed and single track.  With responsibilities at home , church, and work, compounded with the extra wet spring, this is only the second time in 2011 I have been on a trail.  The road miles have been good to my legs, but I forget sometimes how many upper body muscles I use on the trail.  Did my favorite loop.  In at Hope Furnace, up Bobcat to Wildcat to Copperhead and back out. 15+ miles with a couple thousand feet of climbing.

A note on elevation.  I use a Garmin Forerunner 305 to track all my rides and runs.  The GPS estimated elevation is terribly inaccurate.  All my elevation numbers come from SportTracks with the Elevation Correction Plugin.  All my data is smoothed over 3 seconds and only includes grades steeper than 2%.  Garmin Connect uses some unknown algorithm and always shows a significant difference.  I have also used sites like MapMyRide and RideWithGPS.  Each one is different.  For example: Saturday ride was 1056ft at MapMyRide, 2026ft at Garmin Connect, 3046 with SportTracks, and 3045 at RideWithGPS.  Sunday was 548ft at MapMyRide, 1264ft at Garmin Connect, 2136ft with SportTracks, and 3406 at RideWithGPS.  That is a huge variance.  I believe MapMyRide and Garmin Connect both do some heavy smoothing.  Around here though, the smoothing takes away from a lot of the hills.  I also suspect that RideWithGPS may do very little smoothing or includes grades that are less than 2%.  I seem to get the most consistent results with SportTracks, which is what I primarily use to log my rides.

Three days, three rides.

Washing dishes and other weekend fun

I ripped into the dishwasher first thing Saturday morning with the plan to get a seal kit and a new bearing and have the dishwasher back together all for less than $25. That plan was quickly crushed when I finally got the motor out. The rust and other crud buildup on the impeller shaft was the only thing keeping the water from leaking out.  The motor shaft was so far damaged that no seal would hold back the water.  Now the decision is whether to replace the entire motor assembly and impeller or just buy a new dishwasher.  Fun.

Put my tools away and hit the road for a couple hour ride.  Consistent with how the last few weeks have gone, the ride ended in a thunderstorm and a few miles of pouring rain.  36+ miles with about 2000' of climbing.  Rode past the Snowville Creamery farm where they were having an open house / farm tour.  It was good to see the place was packed.  Between that and it was the annual St. Rt. 143 yard sale made for a lot of traffic.  Still, it was great to ride.

Memorial Weekend

Long week. With family, work, and church responsibilities, I have not been riding or running. Friday was to be different though. Kids were now out of school for the summer and Shelly only had to work until noon. I decided to bike to work. Dragged out the old Jamis Coda and loaded the panniers. It has been months since I last rode this bike. In fact, I have not been on it since getting my new Masi. Did not take long until I was missing the Masi. 21 miles to work, not a bad way to start the day. Decided to take the money I saved on gas and by a nice Cuban steak sandwhich from the Chica Chica Chop Chop buggy uptown for lunch.

The ride home was longer. I took more back roads to avoid traffic. Dropped the chain once, had my front brake start rubbing, I was starting to get sore around my neck and shoulders (poor bit fit I guess, never get sore riding my new bike). 23 miles home.

Set up Brock's birthday swing. He was a little terrified at first but was soon giggling away. Had Brock and E swinging, the chicks were running around in the yard, and Pepper was just hanging out at my feet. Ah, the coutnry life.

This is about how I felt as well.

Saturday was a rough start. Michael had friends over for the night and I got about 3 hours of sleep. Up and out of the house so I could be at a firends by 9am to help them move. Packed a full U-haul and two pickups and then unloaded at their new place. Even made it home in time to watch the UEFA finals live.

Sunday was out to church for sound checks at 8 and then to Sunday School.  I got to say how much I enjoy my SS class.  Anyway, first service sans our senior pastor.  Off to get E from one friends house and deliver him to another while Michael ran camera for high school graduation.  Left Shelly , Brock, and me on our own for lunch.  Grabbed a pizza from Courtside in Athens.  Though, the college kids working were watching a less than tasteful movie, the pizza was very tasty.  Got in a road ride on the Masi in the afternoon heat.

Off work on Monday meant hard work at home.  Set up Ethan's pool, got the place bush-hog'd, and dragged out the ladders to caulk some fresh carpenter bee holes in the house.  Another hot one.  Tried to finish the day off with a 5k run.  Seemed slower than usual and by the 2 mile mark I couldn't get my feet to move.  Light headed I slowed to a walk.  One thing I really need to know more about is nutrition.  Short on calories? Sleep? Fat, protein, electrolytes?  I don't know, I just know I was tanked.

I tried to cram some calories when I got home (by this time my stomach was growling).  Not much to make, how about a PB&J sandwich made from two chocolate chip Eggo waffles and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top?  Yes, I still felt hungry even after I ate it.

Back to work on today.  Can't get enough to eat and my legs feel like bricks.

Windy training ride

Wind: WSW @ 26mph with 41mph peak gusts as observed at 3:35pm Sunday, April 18.

Crazy winds.  Got in 27 miles, sometimes with the bike at a 15 degree angle to fight the wind, sometimes at 23mph with zero felt breeze, and sometimes at 5mph on a flat with a headwind.  Still adjusting to the new geometry of my Masi, but wow, what a great bike.

Getting some running time in as well.  Now I just need to get in the water to be ready for the OU-AIA sprint triathlon on May 7.

Pre-work ride

Things just all worked out to allow me to get a quick ride in before work today.  Not to bad, cool and sunny, 14 miles.  Makes the whole rest of the day nicer!

Really liking my new bike.  I have picked up a couple MPH over the same out and back I ride all the time.  Some surely is due to fitness, but some is due to the equipment.  Not sure I am super crazy about the OEM seat though.

No excuses now.

Well, excpet maybe time. But not because of equipment.  Meet my new Masi Evoluzione 105. Super excited to put a lot of miles on it!